


Hook up

by EaSnowPw



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Alcohol, Fluff, Hurt/Comfort, Implied Smut, M/M, Wong and Rhodey being done, oblivious idiots
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-04
Updated: 2018-11-04
Packaged: 2019-08-18 18:02:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,361
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16522010
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/EaSnowPw/pseuds/EaSnowPw
Summary: It's not much. They meet every once in a while, drink and spill their darkest secrets. And have sex. It works. Really.Okay, so he caught feelings. Can you blame him?





	Hook up

The first time they hooked up was at the party following Thanos' defeat. Tony had invited Wong and Stephen more out of courtesy, not expecting them to show up. He was naturally proved wrong.

Wong still looked like a monk, a little out of place, but easily blending in. Stephen, on the other hand, looked like he belonged there, but didn't mingle as much. He seemed pretty intent on drinking all 14 million futures out of his head. Tony didn't interrupt. He was too busy drinking one desperate "I don't wanna go" and a sad "I'm sorry, Tony" out of his. Most people were decidedly drinking stuff out of their minds, but Stephen seemed to keep up nicely with Tony's alcoholic intake. His hands were shaking, but he seemed to only take that as a personal challenge, some sort of "how much can I drink until I literally can't hold the glass in my hand anymore?" Tony moved into the chair next to him. At least they could pretend they were in a drinking competition.

Somehow, halfway through, they began glancing at each other before each glass. Soon enough, Stephen stopped, slammed his glass down and fully turned towards Tony. The engineer saw no reason not to do the same. They looked into each other's eyes, fascinated, but with what, Tony couldn't tell. Perhaps it was the victory. Perhaps it was simply being alive, being able to have another human being so close to you. Whatever it was, they decided to pursue it.

Each of them would always say they were the first to lean in and the kiss was awesome, sent fire through their bodies and made them crave more. Yeah, no. The kiss was sloppy at best and most of their lust was the alcohol talking, though they had the presence of mind to stumble away before they got too indecent. Tony could remember muttered words, wet, sloppy kisses and shaky hands all over his body. Stephen could remember the faint metallic taste that seemed to come from every place on Tony's body, the scarred chest that made his medical degree weep.

Was the sex good? Maybe. Did it change anything? Also maybe. Because, in the morning, neither of them was in the room. And when a rogue sorcerer did some dumb shit in New York and forced them to work together, they acted like nothing had happened.

* * *

A few months later, they were at the sanctum and it was just obscenely unfair how well that shirt looked on the wizard. Tony challenged him about only drinking tea, to which Stephen brought one of the most expensive whiskeys the billionaire had ever seen.

"What the fuck? And I'm the rich one."

"A man gave me this for getting rid of the ghost in his basement." Stephen seemed too amused. It was suspicious.

"Was it a real ghost?"

"No." Tony laughed. "Just some leftover dark energy from a past ritual."

"Yeah, I'm gonna need some of that inside me for what you say to start making any sense whatsoever."

He didn't even flinch when two glasses appeared out of thin air. Magic didn't scare him as much. Progress was progress.

So they drank. Stephen loosened up significantly when he was tipsy and became good company. Eventually, Tony got him to talk about his hands. The pain, the self-loathing, the feeling of losing everything. Tony knew a thing or two about desperation, but he'd always been Tony Freaking Stark. Even trapped in a cave. Stephen was Sorcerer Supreme, had been the Doctor Strange, but he'd also been nothing more than a cripple for a while. Stephen talked about it like it was no big deal, but Tony knew how to play down pain as well. And shit, Rhodey had been right when he said that Stephen was Tony in another universe. So he talked, too. He talked about his parents, about how he had a paladium core poisoning him and of course Stephen was still a doctor and understood what that meant more than others. He talked about Siberia, about how, for a terrifying moment, he thought that Cap would kill him, about Ultron. Here, he paused, expecting to see the other man blame him. But he didn't. Instead, he grabbed his chin and kissed him deeply, then said

"Science is always trial and error."

And Tony was horrified to feel his heart fluttering in his chest. However, when the tears came, he just let them flow. Because here was someone who listened, who didn't judge or hate him, who didn't fall asleep while he was pouring out his heart. And Stephen let him sob, let him ruin his shirt and, when he was done crying, let Tony fuck him to empty his head, at least for a second.

Still, the bed was cold and empty in the morning, so Tony got the hint and didn't linger.

* * *

 

It was in his lab that Tony understood why Stephen played his trauma from the accident so cool. They were drinking again, when Tony jokingly asked whether Quill actually tried a dance off with Thanos in any potential future. The atmosphere had been relaxed, pleasant, but the forced smile on Stephen's face broke it.

"Doc?" His gaze was so unbearingly sad. Tony's heart clenched uncomfortably. "What did you actually see?"

At first, the sorcerer played it cool ("What could I have possibly seen in a future where we lost, Tony?"), but something about the engineer probably lowered his many defensive walls, because Stephen soon broke down and told him everything. Thanos was just the beginning.

"You have no idea what he was capable of."

So, this time, it was Tony's turn to listen.

"I had no idea what I was getting myself into when I started down this path, but I can't stop. I can't just quit."

And he listened, even though at a certain point, he almost couldn't. It was too much.

"He was going to erase you from existence. Forever. Soul and body."

But he powered through, because holy shit, Stephen was crying and Tony had thought that nothing could touch the man. He was shaking and it was Tony's turn to hold him, to tell him that it was okay, he was fine, everyone was fine because of him. Because he'd succeeded. He'd protected the world every time.

"And I kept dying and dying and dying, and I just went on, because he had to get sick of it at a certain point, right? But it hurt. It hurt, Tony, every single time, and I can remember all of it."

This time, he let Stephen do whatever he wanted to him, the way the wizard had the last time. And maybe 'whining' didn't exactly heal their wounds, but knowing that there was someone you could go to with your demons certainly made the darkness a bit more bearable.

"I'm sorry," Stephen muttered before they fell asleep.

"Don't be. I got you."

The sorcerer was gone in the morning.

* * *

 

Tony saw the pattern. They met roughly on a weekly basis, talked, sometimes drank, which was usually followed by fucking. If they didn't have sex, Stephen left via portal late at night. If they did, he slept with Tony, but would be gone by morning. And that was driving the engineer crazy.

He pondered the question as he swished the drink in his hand. Stephen was his put together self, same as always (the only exception being that night). The alcohol was coming slowly, so chances of sex were dwindling. Tony put his glass down and scooted closer to the other man, who casually put an arm around his shoulders and kept talking. Still, the engineer could feel his wary gaze.

"And Wong then decided that I can't go into the library for a week..." Tony leaned closer still. He was nervous. Why was he nervous? They'd already had sex countless times. Why was a kiss making him nervous? He refused to admit that he knew the answer (They were both sober).

Stephen seemed to catch on quite easily, and met him halfway, albeit a bit hesitant. It was a failure. Their lips snapped together like a pair of clumsy teenagers. They didn't click, dumb fluttery feelings aside. Tony felt stupid. They had a good thing going and now he had ruined it.

"Sorry," he said as he jerked back. "I don't know what came over me..."

Stephen watched him as he struggled and Tony abruptly stopped when the doctor absently licked his lips. He didn't seem angry or offended (why would he, Tony?), just confused and maybe a bit flushed. Oh.

"Why are you sorry? It's not like we haven't done this before."

"Not sober."

The sorcerer licked his lips again. Great. Now Tony couldn't stop staring at them.

"Well, now we have."

"Yeah... we can pretend it never happened if you want."

"Why would I want that?"

"I don't know... hell, I barely know what I'm doing right now. Like, we had a good thing going, but you're always gone in the morning and we never talk about it and act normal and I... I guess I want to at least know what to expect."

Stephen rolled his eyes.

"I'm Sorcerer Supreme, you ass. I can't stay until noon when you wake up."

That answered one of his questions.

"But would you have stayed otherwise?"

Now it was Stephen's turn to look uncomfortable.

"I don't know... would you have wanted me to?"

Great. Now they were stuck. Because Tony honestly had no idea what he wanted. Yeah, he liked Stephen and the sorcerer offered a bit more stability than Pepper, but did he want more? They had a good thing going, if he ignored the fact that they were feeding each other's alcoholism. But maybe that was the problem. They made each other worse in a way. Or better? Tony had to admit that aside from his weekly drink with the wizard, he didn't touch any alcohol. He was quite productive and while nightmares still plagued him, it felt good to be able to pick up the phone and call the other man. He usually answered. Sometimes he didn't, but that was fine. Other times he was sleepy and fell asleep while they were talking. That was also fine. Because most times, his voice soothed Tony back into a deep slumber.

"I don't know."

His stupid heart did. He knew what he irrationally wanted. The question was what he rationally did. He'd rather draw a line and say

"I'm fine with the way things are. Just wanted you to know that."

"You still felt abandoned in the morning," Stephen pointed out.

"Well, you fled after what I can remember as mind-blowing sex. Yeah, I kinda felt dejected."

"Any sex is good when we're drunk."

Stephen had a point, but he still sounded disappointed.

"What are you saying?"

"That we can't know for sure that we really click unless we try this while sober." The wizard put his glass down with a noisy clang. "We get along so damn well while drunk, but when we're sober, we never connect." Tony opened his mouth to protest. "Unless one of us is in a bad place. We only seek each other to fill up a hole, but I don't see you coming to me for anything casual and genuine. Or the other way around."

Stupid heart with stupid feelings and stupid Stephen for making him feel like shit.

"So you're saying we're on a bad path."

"Unfortunately so. Sooner or later, one of us is going to catch feelings. And that one will get heartbroken."

Tony wanted to open his mouth and say that it was too late for that, but he figured he should just suck it up for the time being. Stephen had an unreadable look on his face.

"Though it might be a bit late for that..."

Ah, shit. He'd been busted.

"Look, we can just pretend nothing changed..."

Stephen nodded, impassive.

"Yeah, that's probably for the best." He did sound a bit disappointed, more so when he downed his drink like a shot. He swirled the glass a bit, magically refilled it to the brink, then downed it again. "That's better."

Tony figured he might as well follow his lead.

* * *

 

"They're idiots."

"Hopeless idiots."

Wong and Rhodey were eating lunch at a local restaurant. Rhodey didn't mind paying. Finances were tough for unpaid wizards. Not so much when your friend was a billionaire.

"Tony's acting like someone died."

At least he had someone to complain about Tony to.

"Stephen's moping. It's pathetic."

Wong was a bit more heartless though.

"Should we do something?"

"Yes. I'm sick of it."

So Rhodey figured he could take action.

* * *

 

"Wong told me that Strange has the hots for you, too," was the plan.

"Don't be ridiculous, Rhodey-bear."

"He does and you're in denial. Wong told me that he's moping."

"He could be moping about other things." Tony was doing his best to ignore his friend. Rhodey wanted to drag him to the sanctum.

"Wong would know about it."

"Stephen's not shy. Doubt he would mope about me." As if to prove him right, a portal opened and the Sorcerer Supreme walked in with a determined look on his face. Tony stared. The man knew how to make an entrance and he didn't waste any time. With a decisive stroll, he approached Tony, grabbed his head and, after a brief confirming pause, kissed him hard.

"What do you know? We were both right!" Rhodey commented with a laugh. Tony flipped him off and held on to his wizard, deepening the kiss. When they parted, Stephen chuckled, briefly glancing at Rhodey.

"I see you got your 'you're an idiot' speech too."

"Wong set you up to this?" Tony asked.

"Yeah."

"What about the whole 'we're bad for each other' speech?"

"I'm willing to try if you are." Stephen briefly hesitated. "Are you?"

"Hell yes I am. Thanks Rhodey, but evacuate the premises. We've got some trying to do."

The man rolled his eyes and headed towards the exit.

"That's not one of your better euphemisms, Stank!"

 

**Author's Note:**

> I am open to tag suggestions :)


End file.
